Hello, I am writing a novel and my main character owns a '65 Corvette and I am trying to figure out a scenario in which it breaks down. I don't know a ton about car mechanics so I was wondering if you could help me with one. So far it has driven about a mile and began sputtering until it slowed to a stop. My character, like myself, does not obtain knowledge of the inner workings of a vehicle. Her love interest, in contrary, does. What should he say is the issue with the car? Thank you very much in advance for your help.

 

Here is the passage for help:

"Hey there, ma'am." She jumped when she heard a voice behind her. She turned around only to see a man wearing blue jeans and black t-shirt. "Oh, I apologize ma'am, I didn't mean to startle you." He said, slightly embarrassed. "I saw you from my house and thought you looked like you could use some help. That is a beautiful machine you have there. '65 'Vette, right? You have great taste." He smiled a cute half-smile, his teeth were straight and bright white. He was very handsome. She felt her cheeks get warm and she turned away to face the car. "Y-yes thank you.." She said nervously. 'Get a hold of yourself, Andrea' She cleared her throat and said "She died on me...Wont start. I'm not mechanically inclined so I am not sure what is wrong." He stepped up beside her "Mind if I take a look?" he asked. "Of course go right ahead. I am Andrea, by the way. I just moved in to the small cabin down the road a few weeks ago." She replied. "Nice to meet you, Andrea." He smiled that same, adorable smile at her, "I'm Lincoln, but you can call me Link for short. So we are neighbors now, huh? Lucky for you I trained as a mechanic for three years after high school. Looks like an issue with your

 

One word answer...VAPORLOCK! lol (Vaporlock is the perfect scenario..#1 it comes out of 'no-where' 2# It can fix itself..making the 'hero' look like a hero, and all he did was open the hood and drink a beer!) Vaporlock is caused by heat in the engine compartment soaking into the mostt often metal fuel lines, making Vapor (a gas)...the fuel pump and the needle and seat in the carb do not 'recognize vapor'. Vapor is incompressible...wont pump, wont lift the needle seat. Remedy (temporarily) let the fuel system cool down and turn back into a liquid. Permanent fix, insulate fuel lines and a higher pressure fuel pump.
2 word answer Cooked Starter (next to the exhaust) Also will fix itself after a beer or two...or other activities that take perhaps an Hour! lol Occupants heat up, starter cools down...

So a woman is driving a Vette across the high desert...putt, putt, putt, it breaks down in a little squeedunk town. (vaporlock) Some people push it into the only Garage in town. The mechanic says, 'Hey little lady, it's going to take a couple of hours to fix this. There's a Ice cream shop down the street with A/C...come back in a couple of hours."

She does... She says "So what was wrong"
Mechanic: Blew a Seal
She says, No just some vanilla ice cream! thad-dunk!

 

what about 'Looks like a issue with your "ignition" ?

the coil wire has come loose ..............


the coil unit is right at the top of the engine and easy to see, so the hero can see it almost straight away.

 

Has to be plausible to protect the brand (ain't no Datsun) and fit the time line.

The fuel filter clogged after visiting the last gas station. Ole Link says that replacing the filter, emptying the existing fuel, refill with fresh gas and the little '65 is back to running.

Or a ignition coil wire worked loose and fell off.

Either way, motor does not restart until problem fixed.

Zero to hero in 3-2- ...

 

You beat me to it, bazza77 !

 

What about alternator? Messaged my bother about it and he said this :

I'd say a bad alternator since the car died and won't do anything when she turns the key. The alternator powers the spark plugs and charges the battery. With no alternator, the battery dies and the car basically runs out of electricity.
He could check the battery with a volt meter if he happens to have one on him or be near his home.

 

Really?!

 

yes...really lol

 

No offense to your bro but no.

In fact, the alternator is not designed or responsible to charge the battery; its primary function is to power the car's electric circuits during motor operation (ignition, radio, fan, lights, etc.).

As long as the battery has sufficient charge, it will power the ignition circuit without a functioning alternator and allow the engine to run.

 

Takes too long to fix...your hero must have Amazon prime!

Our Vettes require about 9.5 to 10 VDC tokeep running and power the coil. Once the alternator cooks you have 'maybe' three hours of run-time before the car chugs to a halt....then the starter makes the famous (seen on TV! lol) click click click deadsville!
Maybe one hour at night....
I drove home with one headlight and one tailight connected.....

 

A bad ground. Any Corvette person would buy it hook line and sinker. Bad ground and everything just goes dead.

 

You didn't say if you wanted Link to do a quick fix or not , I was thinking a quick fix so the encounter was short , A broken alternator takes a while to fix especially when the aftermarket suppliers or the local garage have the wrong part. If she has to get stuck then yeah alternator trouble will keep the car off the road for days

EDIT: maybe link gets to like her as well and start finding problems with the car to keep her there, could even end up with a body off restoration going on

 

I'd go with the loose wire that way he can put it back on and be a hero in 2 minutes.

 

Hi FP,
You've gotten some good suggestions!
I'm not sure though that he would refer to the Corvette as a "machine"?
"Car" or "old car" would probably be a little more likely.
"This is a GREAT looking old car you have here".
Write on….
Regards,
Alan

 

Actually, I think Id like it to be in the shop for a while. Giving her no choice but to accept the guys offer for rides into town. I think that would be a great way for them to get to know one another. I really appreciate everyone's help!! I honestly wasn't expecting this much informative feedback! I haven't really written something like this before, and it may have been a reckless choice to make the protagonist in my story so involved in cars, seeing as I don't know much about them...but it just kind of happened that way lol! I have my work cut out for me that is for sure.

 

thank you, I'll change it for sure

 

Only on the corvette forum folks do guys get into arguements about possible afflictions of make believe cars for a future dime novel....stay tuned to find out, will our girl need rides into town, or will link come out of the closet...only time will tell.

 

lol yeahhh what a twist!

 

you let your girlfriend drive it and she put diesel in the gas tank?